Book: The Wretched Divine (#1) | Author: Adalyn Grace | Genre: Adult Dark Fantasy / Romantasy | Pages: 512 | Publication Date: September 22, 2026
Adalyn Grace’s adult fantasy debut feels like it combines the brutality of Angelfall by Susan Ee with the allure of Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor.
The Wretched Divine wastes absolutely no time in throwing you into the fray. From nearly the very first page, the story launches into danger and action and introduces the overarching conflict that is going on in the world between humans, angels, and demons.
Pacing That Never Slows Down
One of the strongest aspects of The Wretched Divine is its momentum. The action is constant, and not in a repetitive way. Every new confrontation or conflict feels dangerous enough to keep you locked in. It creates that just one more page feeling where suddenly you’ve read 100 pages without realizing it.
The tone leans dark and brutal and there’s a sense of danger hanging over everything, mixing surprisingly serious moments with emotional stakes. The world itself has an alluring and layered fantasy atmosphere in the way the lore and larger mysteries unfold around the characters, with information being unveiled over time as the story goes on. The writing is also incredibly descriptive. The environments, creatures, and action sequences feel cinematic and detailed without being overly wordy.
Where The Book Struggles
Unfortunately, I think the breakneck pacing of the story itself directly impacted how I felt about the characters. Because as much as I enjoyed that pacing and the worldbuilding, I found that the biggest weakness was lack of character development.
The Wretched Divine is written in third person and follows around four different POVs. While each voice feels distinct enough to follow, there isn’t a lot of introspection, emotional exploration, or backstory given to any of them (with one exception but it felt more like reading from the outside looking in rather than the character reflecting). Because the plot moves so quickly from one major event to the next, character-building moments often feel sacrificed in favor of momentum.
As a result, I occasionally struggled to feel attached to the characters. The action scenes were fantastic, but I wanted quieter moments that would allow the characters to breathe and become more relatable. More vulnerability, history, and emotional moments would have absolutely made this book for me.
That said, if you’re the type of reader who prioritizes plot, action, and tension over deeply introspective or character-driven stories, this may not bother you nearly as much.
The Twists And THAT Cliffhanger (No Spoilers)
The final stretch of the book was wild.
There’s a major twist near the end that I genuinely did not predict, which is rare for me. Even though the reveal makes a few earlier details feel slightly confusing in retrospect, I still thought it worked overall because it completely reframed parts of the story in an interesting way.
And the cliffhanger the book leaves you on? Crazy. It leaves the series in a place that immediately makes you curious about where things are heading next, which is exactly what you want from the first installment in a fantasy series.
Final Thoughts
Overall, The Wretched Divine is an engaging fantasy read with brutal action, an immersive world, and pacing that makes the 500+ pages go by surprisingly fast.
Its biggest weakness was the lack of deeper character development, especially considering the multiple POV structure. But the compelling lore, vivid writing, nonstop action, and shocking ending still made this a highly entertaining start to what could become a great fantasy series.
An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.